By day, Toronto’s Scarborough Town Centre is a bustling mall. By night, the centre morphs into a construction site.
By day, Toronto’s Scarborough Town Centre is a bustling mall. By night, the centre morphs into a construction site. PCL Constructors Canada Inc. is overseeing a $62 million renovation that got under way in the fall of 2008. The lion’s share of construction is being done at night.
“Theoretically, we have a nine-hour window after the mall closes in the evening and re-opens in the morning,” says PCL project manager Paul Szczucinski. “But the reality is that there are still people lingering after the stores close.”
The project includes installation of a curved ceiling with recessed cove lighting, state-of-the-art skylights featuring high-performance glass, escalators to replace existing stairs, a new and larger centre court elevator and renovated entrances.
Szczucinski, whose firm is acting as construction manager on the project, said ensuring work areas are closed off in order to protect the safety of the public is always “top of mind” while working in an operating environment such as a mall.
“We’re doing a lot of work indoors on this project,” said Szczucinski, a professional engineer who has been at PCL for 12 years.
Similarly, he said, public protection also is a consideration when it comes to renovating building entrances. This work includes installation of new HVAC units and ductwork, precast wall sections and aluminum and glass entrance doors.
“We’re ripping apart entrances, redoing concrete.”
Construction activities had to be carefully sequenced as well, in order to avoid inconveniencing shoppers and tenants.
Szczucinski, who previously was involved in a primarily night-time renovation at Royal Bank Plaza, said obtaining timely responses from consultants to requests for information is one issue that can arise when trades are on site at night.
“If an issue arises, say about a site condition, there is nobody around to answer that question.”
Currently there are between 75 and 80 hourly paid workers on site on a daily basis at the town centre, divided between night shift and day shift crews.
For its part, PCL has eight full-time personnel on site including superintendents, project managers and an administrative assistant — as well as three labourers and a carpenter. It is operating out of a former storage space within the mall.
Situated off Highway 401 between Brimley Road and McCowan Road, the Scarborough Town Centre opened its doors in 1973. The long-time owner is Oxford Properties Group.
“I think people will be really amazed at the transformation,” said general manager Kathy Meyers. “The big difference is how light and bright it is. We’ve really opened up the ceiling.”
The grand unveiling is scheduled for November.
The project is being undertaken by a team that includes the Petroff Partnership Architects, mechanical engineers The Mitchell Partnership, structural engineers Banerjee & Associates Ltd. and electrical engineers Hammerschlag and Joffe.
Subtrades include: Greenspoon Specialty Contracting (demolition); Belmont Concrete; Peri Formwork Systems (work platforms); RES Precast; Torsteel Co. Ltd (miscellaneous metals and structural steel); All Wood Fine Interiors Ltd. (millwork); Semple-Gooder Roofing; Global Architectural Metals (skylights and aluminum entrances); D-Thirteen Corp. (drywall and glass-reinforced gypsum); Maple Terrazzo, Marble & Tile Inc. (tile and limestone work); Schindler Elevator Corp (new escalators and elevator); Sprint-Insight Inc (mechanical); Guild Electric (electrical).
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